Nashville, Tampa, Miami police unions urge boycotts of Beyonce shows

Police unions in Nashville, Tampa and Miami are urging officers not to volunteer to work security at pop star Beyonce's upcoming concerts in those cities, because of what they say was an anti-police message when she performed at the Super Bowl.

Beyonce sparked controversy with a televised performance that referenced the issue of police killings of black men and made a perceived homage to the Black Panther Party, which was formed in 1966 and whose platform included a call to end police brutality. Some of its members were convicted of murdering police officers.

Danny Hale, president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP, said Beyonce has every right to support the Black Lives Matter movement that has sprung up to protest police shootings of black men, but said she went too far with the Super Bowl performance.

"If you throw up the Black Panther Party as some sort of positive message, that is an anti-policing message. The Black Panther Party has always been anti-policing," Hale told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The halftime show at the Super Bowl, the National Football League championship, is traditionally one of the most watched television events of the year in the United States. This near nearly 112 million people watched the game.

Beyonce performed her new single "Formation," a power anthem to race and feminism. Her video for the song depicts graffiti that reads "stop shooting us," suggestive of the Black Lives Matter movement. In the live performance her female dancers wore black berets, seen as a Black Panther reference.

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Anti-Beyonce protester and pro-police supporter Ariel Kohane, surrounded by Beyonce supporters and media and fielding questions from Beyonce supporters and #BlackLivesMatters supporters outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporters and #BlackLivesMatters supporters outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporter outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Unidentified pro-police supporter and self-identified mother a bi-racial child, surrounded by and fielding questions from Beyonce supporters and #BlackLivesMatters supporters outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporters and #BlackLivesMatters supporters outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporter outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporter outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 16: Beyonce supporters and #BlackLivesMatters supporters outside of the NFL Headquarters in New York, New York on February 16, 2016. Photo Credit: Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX

NFL OFFICES MIDTOWN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: A Beyonce supporter holds aloft a sign while a an unidentified Beyonce opponent (wearing a NY Giants jacket) speaks to the press. Following upon the controversy stirred by Beyonce's Super Bowl performance of her song 'Formation,' two Beyonce opponents and a group of counter-demonstrators staged simultaneous rallies at the NFL offices in New York City. (Photo by Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

NFL OFFICES MIDTOWN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: Supporters of Beyonce hold signs while rallying in front of the offices of the National Football League. Following upon the controversy stirred by Beyonce's Super Bowl performance of her song 'Formation,' two Beyonce opponents and a group of counter-demonstrators staged simultaneous rallies at the NFL offices in New York City. (Photo by Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

NFL OFFICES MIDTOWN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: Torrential rains force a pause in the rally as demonstrators seak cover near a bank on the ground floor of the NFL office building. Following upon the controversy stirred by Beyonce's Super Bowl performance of her song 'Formation,' two Beyonce opponents and a group of counter-demonstrators staged simultaneous rallies at the NFL offices in New York City. (Photo by Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: Hand-lettered 'Why Are People Afraid of Black Pride?' side in front of NFL headquarters. Several dozen supporters of Black Lives Matter, Stop Patriarchy, Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Beyonce Knowles rallied in front of NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan to counter a planned anti-Beyonce demonstration. (Photo by Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

NFL HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: Member of TEAM #FORMATION holding a sign at the anti-Beyonce Protest in New York. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

NFL HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - 2016/02/16: A organizer of the TEAM #FORMATION at the anti-Beyonce Protest speaking to the press expressing disappointment about their counterpart protest contingent not showing up. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

SHOW CAPTION
+

HIDE CAPTION
–

Leaders of the Tampa and Miami FOP sent the same message to their members on Thursday, urging officers not to sign up for overtime shifts working security at Beyonce's concerts.

Police departments in all three cities said if they do not get volunteer officers to work at the concerts, they will mandate shifts in order to provide public security, according to local media reports.

Hale said the boycott was meant to send a message as opposed to leaving the concerts with no security.

"Ultimately, the police department, for public safety purposes, will have to mandate officers to work," Hale said. "We're professional and will do the job."

A publicist for Beyonce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Beyonce is scheduled to play Miami on April 27, Tampa on April 29 and Nashville on May 5.